(Vatican Radio) On the Feast day of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre Pope Francis has sent a message of participation and encouragement to all Cubans who love her and entrust their prayers to “her immaculate heart.”In a letter addressed to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Dionisio Guillermo Garcia Ibanez who is also the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba, the Pope recalled with joy that a replica of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre has recently been placed in the Vatican Gardens. He described her presence as a reminder of the love and the vitality of the pilgrim Church in the Caribbean.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel listens to President Barack Obama address a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, May 2, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

In the wake of last fall’s revelation that the National Security Agency had wiretapped German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone, the report of U.S. intelligence’s involvement in two other likely cases of spying on Germany is mind-boggling.

Now the story has taken a dramatic new turn, with Germany expelling the CIA chief of station in Berlin — an almost unprecedented step by an ally. This unusual action reflects how seriously the Merkel government takes these spying allegations.

What could the CIA hope to gain by infiltrating the BND, the German Federal Intelligence Service, knowing there was a chance that the operation might be exposed? What was worth this risk?

U.S. President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel address joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in WashingtonCIA and White House officials have said little to answer the question. But the fact that German industry has strong ties to both Russia and Iran may offer a clue. So economic and political intelligence about Germany’s contacts with those countries could be high on the list of potential U.S. intelligence targets. The CIA might for example, be interested in whether the Merkel government – heavily dependent on oil imports from Russia – is thinking about softening its opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s support for Russian-speaking separatists in eastern Ukraine.

(Reuters) - Germany's Angela Merkel warned Moscow ahead of talks on Ukraine on Wednesday that economic sanctions remained an option unless it backed peace efforts, as Ukrainian government forces pressed on with an offensive against pro-Russian rebels.

The Ukrainian, Russian, German and French foreign ministers went into the Berlin meeting at 4.30 p.m. (1430 GMT) to discuss restoring a 10-day ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, which the chancellor said had prompted "no significant reaction" from the separatists.

"We will not stop looking for diplomatic solutions," Merkel said. "But we are nowhere near where we want to be."

(Reuters) - The leaders of Russia and Ukraine held their first talks on Friday since Moscow annexed Crimea, airing ways to end their four-month conflict in a brief encounter during commemorations in France of the World War Two D-Day landings.French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought together Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president-elect Petro Poroshenko for a 15-minute meeting before they joined other dignitaries for lunch.